Billionaire Tom Steyer Enters the Crowded California Governor Race

Billionaire investor and longtime Democratic activist Tom Steyer announced on November 19, 2025, that he is running for California governor in the 2026 election. He made the announcement in a short video on social media, saying he is running because “Californians deserve a life they can afford,” and that politicians in Sacramento are “afraid to change a broken system.” Steyer said he is not afraid to make big changes.

Steyer, 68, joins a very large field of candidates who want to replace Governor Gavin om, who cannot run again. om is widely expected to focus on a possible 2028 presidential campaign. Since California is strongly Democratic, the primary race will be the real battleground. The list of Democratic candidates already includes former Congresswoman Katie Porter, former U.S. Health Secretary and Attorney General Xavier Becerra, former State Controller Betty Yee, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond, and former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa.

On the Republican side, former Fox

host Steve Hilton and Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco are running, but in a heavily Democratic state, they face very steep odds.

Polls show the race is completely open. A Berkeley IGS poll from November 7 found that Porter was leading among Democrats with 11%, down from 17% in August. Surprisingly, Republican Chad Bianco led the overall field with 13%. But the biggest number was this: 44% of voters are still undecided. Poll director Mark DiCamillo said this shows how unsettled the election is. Analyst Dan Schnur described it as the most unpredictable governor’s race in 50 years. Congressman Eric Swalwell is also expected to join the race soon.

Steyer’s enormous personal wealth — about $2 billion according to Forbes — gives him a major advantage. He has already spent millions on political causes and hosted fundraising events for President Biden. Unlike other candidates who must raise money from donors, Steyer can fund much of his own campaign. But his wealth also brought immediate criticism. Katie Porter’s campaign accused him of being an “out-of-touch billionaire,” and Betty Yee mocked him for talking about affordable housing “from a seaside mansion.”

While many Democratic candidates are focusing their campaigns on opposing President Trump — who remains deeply unpopular in California — Steyer is focusing on the issue most voters care about: affordability. California has some of the highest housing prices in the country, with a median home price around $873,900 and expected to rise above $900,000 in 2026. Gas, electricity, and taxes are also high. Republicans blame years of Democratic policies for these problems. Conservative candidate Steve Hilton called Steyer a “climate fanatic” whose ideas would make costs even worse.

Steyer’s background is well known. He ran the hedge fund Farallon Capital for 26 years before leaving in 2012 to focus on politics and environmental causes. He founded NextGen Climate, helped fund energy research at Stanford and Yale, and played major roles in passing several California ballot measures. These include defeating Proposition 23 in 2010 (which protected the state’s emissions laws), closing tax loopholes through Proposition 39 in 2012, and raising cigarette taxes through Proposition 56 in 2016. Steyer often says he has battled powerful corporations and “raised billions for Californians without costing regular people a dime.”

His campaign plans include making large corporations “pay their fair share,” building one million affordable homes in four years by cutting fees and speeding permits, reducing energy bills by breaking up utility monopolies, expanding education with free pre-K and community college, and banning corporate PAC money in state politics.

Steyer’s 2020 presidential campaign went nowhere, but his recent $13 million effort to support Proposition 50 boosted his visibility and fueled talk of a governor run. Now he is officially in the race. At 68, he is presenting himself as a wealthy outsider who can fix problems longtime insiders have failed to solve. Critics blame Democrats like him for California’s problems, while supporters say he has the boldness and resources to take them on. Either way, his entry raises both the stakes — and the spending — in this already intense race.